Anatomic sites of foot lesions resulting in amputation among diabetics and non-diabetics.

Objective: To identify and quantify the anatomic sites of foot lesions resulting in amputation among patients suffering from peripheral arterial disease with and without diabetes mellitus.

Design: A retrospective study.

Setting: Department of Orthopaedic Rehabilitation.

Self-injury resulting in amputation among vascular patients: a retrospective epidemiological study.

In the course of 24 months, 164 nontraumatic vascular amputees were accepted for prosthetic rehabilitation; 120 (73%) were diabetic and 44 (27%) non-diabetic. Subjects were divided into two groups, the first consisting of 114 with spontaneous foot infection or gangrene and the second of 50, of whom 44 were diabetic and six had peripheral arterial disease on its own. Sixty-five per cent of all amputees had fewer than nine years of formal education and 46% were in the low-income bracket, but no significant relationship was found between mechanism of self-injury and level of education and income.